Mart Habakuk, Chancellor of EBS – the only private university in Estonia – says, “When EBS was founded before Christmas 1988, my father Madis Habakuk, one of the founders of the university imposed on the first year students a strict academic regimen for several months – during three to four months, the students were allowed to speak only in English, both in class and in free time. The reason was obvious – learning the language was of paramount importance to ensure that the future Estonian business elite could participate in a traineeship abroad, establish contacts, start their own business in Estonia after returning and compete with the rest of the world. It might seem funny today, but back then, survival depended on language skills. I do not exclude the possibility that in 30 years from now we would joke about providing higher education in strict 3+2 system in 2018. This is because the environment, for which we prepare our specialists today, is changing not in years or months, but already in weeks. EBS has no intention to miss that express train. On the contrary, we want to travel in the first class of that train and provide our entrepreneurs and future creators with the most recent and operative education solutions based on individual expectations and prove that university environment is more powerful than being Google-educated.”
EBS Chancellor Mart Habakuk and Rector Arno Almann will provide a more detailed overview of the innovative solutions already incorporated in the academic work of EBS and the goals set for upcoming years at the EBS 30 Gala held this Saturday, December 8 at 7 pm in Estonia Concert Hall.
